Swimming Pool Cover Tadpoles

I would like to know if will it hurt to move tadpoles from off the top of my pool cover to a kiddie pool, along with the water they are in now? I want to open my pool, but I don’t want to hurt the tadpoles. Thank you. Rhonda

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4 thoughts on “Swimming Pool Cover Tadpoles”

Rhonda, Thanks for writing, and it’s nice of you to want to go to that trouble for the tadpoles. Every year at this time, I get a few questions just like yours. Pool covers are popular places for frogs to lay eggs!

I think your plan sounds good, as long as you don’t have a dog who will eat the tadpoles out of the kiddy pool.

They probably won’t do that well on top of the pool cover anyway, especially if the water starts to dry up. Is the pool in the sun? I would try to duplicate a similar sun location, because most tadpoles eat algae, so if you put the pool in the shade, they might not get enough to eat. On the other hand, you don’t want it to get super hot. Good luck! Tom

Can you take a picture of the tadpoles? We might be able to figure out what kind of amphibian they come from and that would allow a better guess as to how much longer before they metamorphose. Do any of them have legs yet? My guess is tree frog, just because they are the ones most likely to get up on a swimming pool, I suspect. Is it an above ground or in ground pool? Tom

Hey Tom, just wanted to make a note here. I know it’s too late to do any good for the above-mentioned tadpoles, but wanted to warn about predators other than dogs. The one night I failed to cover my kiddie pool, a racoon went in and feasted on HUNDREDS of tadpoles. These were rescued from my overflowing pond (the racoon can’t access the pond without falling in) and were my babies. I was devastated. Only 7 were left the next morning. Gail

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